Most Important Property Management Software Features
Progressive, continuously successful property managers, HOA managers, asset managers or landlords are looking for PM software with the right mix of features and benefits in their chosen platform.
They’re finding their current solutions outdated and not compatible with the new, cloud-based, internet-connected environment. But as they prepare to switch software solutions, they’re uncertain of which benefits are the most important.
Some features of property management software provide better benefits than others so prioritizing then, is something we must do.
To understand this a little better, we might look at what surveys have discovered about the attitudes and priorities of property managers and landlords. The top 3 priorities discovered were growth, efficiency and profitability.
The Capabilities you Really Must Have
Yet reconciling challenges with the actual software features property managers need is what drives the development of high performance solutions such as ManageCasa. And few might consider cost and security (as examples) as vital factors in their mix but they are.
And accounting is often taken for granted, but double-entry accounting with banking integration and online payment services are all part of a comprehensive solution.
We have to mention cloud-based property management because it solves so many cost and technical challenges. The cloud platforms open up so many additional services, and services that tenants consider must have amenities.
Top 10 Features of Great Property Management Software
So let’s look at the top 10 features that excellent, flexible, property management software possesses.
- complete industry-specific accounting module – collecting rent payments and making accounting entries are time-consuming. Having software dedicated to the actual needs of property managers means accounting is accurate and reliable. You need to keep your accounts separate and track expenses against individual properties. Good accounting makes financial reports valid.
- work automation – software is all about automating work tasks to take repetitive tasks away from you. This saves you and your staff a lot of time, which is money. Good accounting and work automation help eliminate errors and lost paper document issues.
- online rental payment automation – tenants want to pay online in the format they prefer. Letting the tenant take care of this process, enabling automatic verification saves a lot of time and energy on your part. It also helps eliminate late payments and non-payment problems.
- owner disbursement automation – automating payment to your landlords and property owners helps save time on manual checks and thus streamline the process to eliminate errors.
- maintenance ticket automation – automating maintenance work orders ensures a central, official record of repairs, requests, estimates, notes, conversations, and photos related to a rental property is available in real-time, ensures landlords get notified when tenants request maintenance or repairs, and keeps conversations, sms texts, emails, and docs in one place for ready referral.
- improved property reporting – property management reports help you understand your PM success and communicate it better to property owners. Reports help you account for expenses, know immediately how much rent is paid, where money went, and what amounts are left in each account. It’s an excellent way to boost owners confidence in you, and give them an up-to-date, reliable snapshot of their property’s performance.
- cloud security – Data privacy laws are priorities and the cloud infrastructure is harder to hack. Cloud hardware infrastructure and data encryption, and intrusion detection, makes the cloud much more secure than a local hard drive. For many property management companies now, such as those who have been hacked, data security is the highest priority.
- cloud IT cost reduction – the cloud takes away in-house IT administration costs, downtime, and staffing costs. These are big expenses and thus allows you to raise staff pay, increase marketing for tenants, and increase ROI for owners.
- contractor management – knowing who your contractors are, where they are now, what they’re doing, and what they’ve completed is essential to tenant satisfaction and costs related to fraud or rework. You can manage invoices and stay on top of repairs and contractor conversations to ensure costs are controlled and jobs are done well.
- automate lease cycle management – from writing and editing leases, updating lease provisions, changing terms, and storing related documents for instant retrieval, the property management software’s automation makes lease management a breeze.
Resolve Your Challenges with Excellent Software
Consider your biggest business challenges this year from staffing to cost efficiency to new services desired by tenants. Come up with your top ten must-have property management features.
Check out ManageCasa, and you’ll find we’ve made the top 10 features a priority. Take some time to learn about our cloud based property management software and how much easier it can make your daily workload.
See also: Property Management Software | Best Property Management Software | Cloud Property Management Software | Cloud Migration Tips | Next Generation Software | Property Management Software Comparison | Property Management App | Tenant Services | Reduce Tenant Turnover | Why do Tenants Leave? | Rental Market | Tenant Management Tips | Phoenix Rental Market
